“…compelling...Markel makes it clear that, despite his backing of eugenics, some of John's positions were indeed visionary, especially his warnings against smoking."

Wall Street Journal

"Serious and in every way commendable — in its painstaking research, its superb prose and storytelling, and most importantly, its energy and spirit. Surely some element of our collective childhood lies at the heart of this tale, and gives it its special edge and fascination — and streak of rogue humor. Chapter by chapter, in one finely crafted paragraph after another, Markel holds your interest "

David Walton, The Dallas News

"…when I was growing up, Battle Creek was this kind of mythic place for me… I’d have breakfast cereals for breakfast and, whether it was Post or Kelloggs, the address would be Battle Creek and I would stare at the cereal boxes and there wasn’t much to read on them, so you were always seeing the name Battle Creek and there was always a come-on the boxes, if you wrote to the address in Battle Creek you’d get free something or other, a souvenir of the cereal. It would all lead back to Battle Creek. I had no idea what that was or what that meant but it sounded like a really interesting name. Who knew what kind of battles went on there that helped to produce these cereals?